Various RF systems for short range (<1 mile) communications currently exist, but most are geared to systems for permitting communications between people who are further than 100 feet apart. There are various situations, however, in which people who are relatively close together, even within 6 feet apart, could benefit from assistance in communications.
In a first situation, one or both of the people suffer from hearing loss. Because hearing aids tend to amplify background noise as well as sounds that the wearer wishes to hear, the ability to hear a speaker is typically not as good as it is if the speaker talks into a microphone from which the signals are sent to an apparatus that reconstructs the sounds and projects them directly into the listener's ear. This type of system is known, but in form that appears to presume a simple two person environment, in which just one person suffers from hearing impairment. If a group of 4-10 hearing impaired persons congregated, the system might not adequately permit an easy course of communications.
In a second situation, a group of people are gathered in a noisy environment, such as a crowded restaurant, a cocktail party or a nightclub. Communications may become strained in such an environment. Even very mild hearing loss can result in missed understanding. Further, even a person with no hearing impairment may experience difficulty understanding what is being said and may have to fill in the blanks with guesswork, potentially leading to embarrassing gaffs.
In a third situation, the people who wish to communicate are separated by less than 100 yards, but by far enough so that they cannot communicate comfortably without assistance. Although, as noted before, systems exist for aiding the communicators in this situation, the use of these systems tends to become difficult if more than two communicators wish to use the same system. It may be difficult to distinguish one or more of the communicators. The difficulty in distinguishing speakers also is present in telephone conversations where more than one person is sharing a speaker phone.